Fire And Water
by Fiery Von Bielefield
Summary: With a promise made, princess Mikan goes on a journey to search for Kaito Hyuuga, the legendary knight who had defeated a dragon before. However, meeting him won't be that easy since there is a crimson eyed guy stopping her on the way


**Fire And Water**

_Written by: Fiery Von Bielefield_

**_Disclaimer:_** This story is inspired by a movie named "Fire And Water" that I've recently watched. However, I'll try my best to avoid the similarities

**Chapter 1:**** Disaster**

Long long ago, there was a kingdom named Antalantis. It was a beautiful and prosperous kingdom with friendly and generous people as its citizens. The king of Antalantis, King Izumi Yukihira Sakura, was a kind-hearted and fun-loving man that ruled his kingdom wisely. Under his reign, there was never a sight of fighting or arguing, people lived happily and in harmony with each other.

However, Antalantis' amazingly beautiful sceneries and its riches made the rulers of the neighboring countries felt envious. They gathered together in a secret meeting in the Dark Castle of Montegrini kingdom, a kingdom to the west of Antalantis. There, the kings and queens of the other kingdoms had made an agreement. They would send a Fire Dragon to destroy Antalantis, and once the king resigned, they would take over the land. Although they all agreed on the contract, each ruler kept their private thoughts to themselves, promising that they would definitely gained Antalantis and made it their own kingdom.

The next morning, the people of Antalantis woke up with no worries in their hearts; they continued their works without knowing that a disaster was about to befall them. And inside the castle wall, everything went on as usual.

"PRINCESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!"

The huge wooden door was crack opened, revealing a furious young woman. The girl had black hair with green eyes and she was holding a pink dress in her hands. She was running around in search for something, or rather someone with a frown visible on her face, all the while caressing the dress like it was her treasure.

"Have any of you seen the princess?" the girl asked any maid and servant she ran into, only to receive the same reply: heads shaking.

She had finally reached a maple door. Without any second thought about knocking, she opened it with a loud bang.

"PRINCESS!!!"

All that reply her was silence, as if the room was unoccupied. However, there was indeed someone in the room. The person was sitting on a chair beside the coffee table, sipping the cup of coffee slowly. A smile tug up that person's lips as the girl banged into the room. Putting the cup down on the table, the person slowly shifted position on the chair so that the girl could have full vision of who that person was; a smirk was form on that person's face.

"You are so loud and energetic this early in the morning, Permy," a nonchalant female voice escape the person's lips.

"And you are as skeptic as ever, Imai," the girl replied, "I'm looking for the princess, is she here?"

"I'm her advisor, not her nanny. I've already figured out why you came here since you woke the whole castle up ten minute ago with your extremely loud voice. And as you can see clearly, I'm enjoying my time _all alone_ until you came and disturbed it," Hotaru Imai answered while keeping an eye on the lass at the door. "And I might add, it was _your_ job to take care of her, Sumire"

"Well, that girl sure know how to hide because I couldn't find her anywhere inside the castle," Sumire said as she eyed the room suspiciously, looking for a good place where the princess could be hiding and laughing secretly for Sumire hasn't found her yet.

"It doesn't matter to me at all. As long as she came back at lunch time, it's fine with me," the raven haired girl said; she was reaching for a piece of paper on her desk.

"If you find her, tell her that I'm looking for her. The tailor had just arrived and gave me her new dress, the one that she will use for the ball next week," as she said the last sentence, she looked at the pink dress in her hands with loving eyes.

"Why do I feel that Mikan won't have any interest in those things?" Hotaru simply asked, knowing that Sumire fully understood what she meant.

"She will, once she sees this wonderful dress," Sumire stated firmly, and after that, she walked away.

**********

In a small village not far away from the castle, a brunette was running on the meadow with little kids running before her.

"Come on guys. You must let me catch you. That way, I can be the mouse," she shouted and smiled at the kids as she tried to catch one of them.

"No way, Mikan-nee. You are doing well as the cat," a girl about six years old said between her giggles.

"But I'm tired," Mikan said as she suddenly quickened her pace and caught the little girl. Both of them fell on the soft meadow and broke out into laughter. The other kids joined them and for a while, only delighted giggles were heard around them.

"Mikan-nee, I like you the most," a blond haired girl said as she nudged in Mikan's arms.

"Yeah, me too"

"I like Mikan-nee, too"

"Mikan-nee, do you like us, too?"

"Of course I like you guys the most," Mikan smiled, her brown eyes sparkled with delight.

"When I grow up, I want to be like Mikan-nee," another girl said excitedly.

"Yeah, Mikan-nee is my idol," a boy with blue eyes butted in.

"That's right, Mikan-nee is really strong, you can do anything,"

"You guys really think so?" Mikan asked and she tried to hug all the kids around her as they nodded in excitement.

"Mikan-nee, why do you always wear boy's clothes?" the kids gathered around her with expectation.

"Well, no real reason. I just think that boy's outfit makes it easier to move and I like it," Mikan answered with a shining smile.

"Then we'll wear boy's outfit, too, just like Mikan-nee," the kids said in unison.

"But you girls should wear girl's clothes once in a while, it'll look good on you," Mikan stated.

"Mikan-nee, have you ever worn a dress?"

"Of course I have. I need to attend meetings with my parents, and in those meetings, I must wear dresses,"

"Woa, Mikan-nee definitely looks good in a dress," the kids cheered, "my mom said that you were the most beautiful princess ever"

"Really? Thank you guys, and thank your mom, too," Mikan blushed as she hugged the kids once again. "Come on, it's time we go back," she stood up and they walked hand-in-hand back to the village.

**********

Mikan was walking on the road, smiling with everybody who greeted her. Antalantis citizens were used to seeing their beloved princess wandering outside the castle wall. She was really cheerful and kind. She usually went out of the castle to play with the kids, help with the villagers and she cared for her people with all her heart. That was why everybody loved her.

The castle was visible from her position and she has never stopped feeling how amazing it looked. It was her home, where all her loved ones lived, and if she stood on her balcony, she could see the whole country. Antalantis, her home land, the country she would rule someday, and the country she loved so much, as much as she loved every member of it. Well, there was always the matter of the Ancient Rules. It was stated in the rules that a woman alone couldn't govern Antalantis no matter how wise she could be. Mikan frowned as she remembered her problem. Every future-to-be queen needed a king by her side, and the king and queen had decided that it was time for their lovely princess Mikan to look for a suitable husband.

Mikan sighed as she remembered the ball she would have to attend next week. Her parents were generous enough to let her choose a man on her own, so they provided her good chances to look for him. Nevertheless, after she had failed them many times before by turning all the men that had come to her down, they publicly announced that this would be her last chance. If princess Mikan couldn't find her suitable future husband in this upcoming ball, she would get herself an arrange marriage with a neighbor country's prince.

"What a hopeless life I have," she mumbled. Princess Mikan, having the reputation of a tomboy who always prefers boy's clothes than girl's dresses and paid more attention to male's activities like writing and hunting than female's hobbies such as knitting and being a good wife, was indeed a romantic girl. She always imagined herself marrying someone she loved with all her heart, one that was handsome, charming, kind, funny, strong and intelligent, a prince on a white horse would best describe that someone. She had been told that it was hard to find such person, but convinced by her parents' long-lasting and harmonious marriage, she was certain that she would find 'him' someday. She wanted to experience it, even just once, love. However, there could be no guarantee when that someday would be, and princess Mikan had her duties of a princess, she had responsibilities to her kingdom and her people. The happiness of her people mattered to her more than her own. Still, there was a small part in her heart that always wanted her to run away and just be herself.

Suddenly, Mikan heard a loud roar from the sky, and everything around her was darkened, a shadow had fallen on them. She looked up as everybody else did the exact same thing. What she saw when she looked up make Mikan wanted to scream and run away as far as possible. However, she was too scared to do those things.

It was a dragon.

A fire-breathing dragon to be exact.

If you have never heard of a dragon before, let me describe it for you. It was giant and had a particularly striking appearance. It had a lizard-like head and inside its mouth were extremely sharp and dangerous teeth. The dragon had a fringe of golden spikes around its face. Its bat-like, scarlet wings were flapping, sending wind that could make the shops in the small market tremble and fell. There were bronze colored spikes that protrude from its long tail.

Mikan gasped as the dragon flied around, dangerously getting closer to the ground. Everybody was running and shouting, some even tried to pull Mikan away from it, but she stood still, keeping her gaze at the dragon. When it opened its mouth, crimson mushroom shaped flame burst out.

Mikan was brought back to her senses when she heard a scream. She immediately turned to that direction, and she saw a little girl, hiding under a table. She was terrified when she realized that the flame was directed to the girl. Without any second thought, Mikan ran to the girl as fast as she could, grabbed the girl in her hands and rolled on her back. She could feel fire burn behind her but she didn't stop running with the girl in her hands until she reached a safer spot behind a concrete wall, which was standing still, out of the dragon's flame's range. She saved the little girl in the nick of time.

The dragon shot a few more flame balls before it finally felt satisfied with the destruction it had caused and flied away.

"Thank you, Mikan-sama. You saved my daughter," a woman ran to Mikan and the little girl jumped into her open arms, both of them was crying, one was scared and one was relieved.

"It's nothing," Mikan smiled with the woman. She looked around her. Everything was burnt or half-destroyed. Luckily, no one was injured, they were just frightened of what had just happened. She turned on her heels and headed to the castle, where in the world could hold the answers to her questions right now? It's her father's conference room.

**********

"We must accept their demand, your Majesty. Who knows what those people will do when we refuse?" a man's voice was heard. From her position behind the door, Mikan could recognize that voice. It belonged to Persona, the king's advisor. He sounded urgent and demanding. When she got back to the castle, Mikan immediately headed to her father's conference room, but as she was about to knock, she heard her father and his advisor talk in such low and fast voice so she decided to listen to them for a while before entering.

"But if we accept, our people will face a fate that is worse than death itself," her father replied. Mikan felt relief since his voice was so calm although from the sounds she heard, he was definitely walking back and forth in fast speed, a sign that showed he was anxious.

"You saw what the dragon is capable of. If you accept them now, we can regain what is rightfully ours later," Persona hissed, his voice now showed signs of anger, "Just forfeit the throne and the Montagrini king will spare our kingdom"

Mikan gasped. Did she hear him right? Did Persona just tell her father to forfeit the throne? She could hear the king stop walking. She glanced through the key hole and saw that her father was standing beside his table, looking at the man in front of him in disbelief. Persona was currently turning his back at the door, so she couldn't see the expression on his face, but she was sure he had that usual smirk on his lips.

"Mikan!"

Mikan was startled. She was trying so hard to listen to the two men in the room that she forgot to pay attention to her surroundings. She turned around in the direction of the voice, only to find her mother heading her way with a furious look.

"What are you doing here?" Queen Yuka asked, her eyes narrowing at her daughter.

"I…I'm just listening," Mikan sheepishly replied. Thanks to her mother distraction, she couldn't hear the men talk now.

"You mean you are _eavesdropping_?" the queen retorted.

"I'm…Kaa-sama, I needed to know what was happening so I came to tou-sama's conference room when I heard him talk with Persona. I didn't want to disturb them, so I was waiting for a chance to make my entrance," Mikan quickly came up with a reply, which was not really far from the truth.

"Way to get out of your trouble," Queen Yuka stated as she let out a small sigh, "We'll talk about this later. Right now, there are much more important things to handle." As she said that, she stepped forward and opened the door. When both of them walked inside, the two men stopped talking immediately.

"Don't even try to assure me that everything is under control. I saw that dragon and what it had done. Tell me the truth I need to know," the queen stated as her husband was about to say something. Mikan looked at her with awe, she didn't know that her mother could be so strong and straightforward as the moment needed. Her father, on the other hand, just sighed at his wife's statement. He slowly proceeded to his chair and fell onto it. With his fingers rubbing his temples, the king started to speak.

"The king of Montegrini kingdom sent me a letter earlier this morning. He wanted us to surrender and give Antalantis to him, or else he would send his fire dragon back, and next time, it wouldn't be merciful," he sighed.

"What the?" Mikan and Yuka were shocked. They knew that King Kuonji, the king of Montegrini kingdom, has always had an interest on their kingdom but he couldn't do much for his country's army was no match for theirs. However, it was their first time to hear that there was a fire dragon in Montegrini kingdom, and worse, it was under the king's order.

"How did he do that? I have never heard about a dragon that lives in Montegrini kingdom. They are supposed to be extinct," Mikan said; her tone was full of uncertainty.

"Actually, your Highness, dragons are not extinct. There are a few dragons that survived the Great Hunting centuries ago, and they are currently living in their respective hideouts, unable for us to reach. How the king of Montegrini kingdom could get his hands on such an animal is still a mystery," Persona calmly explained, "However, there is no worries about the dragon right now. We should think about how to deal with the Montegrini's king demand"

"There is no way we would surrender. Everybody knows what an ambitious and vigorous man King Kuonji is. We can't give Antalantis and its people to him," Queen Yuka exclaimed.

"We have no other choice, your Majesty," Persona stated as he gave the queen a small glare which went unnoticed by anyone but princess Mikan. She felt shiver run down her spine as she saw it.

"Actually, we do have a choice," another voice butted in. Everybody in the room turned their head to the door to see the newcomer. It was Narumi, one of the ministers, and the king's most trusted advisor. Mikan smiled with him as Narumi entered the room. Her parents nodded while Persona just gave him a small grunt.

"What do you have in mind, Narumi?" the king asked, he had stopped rubbing his temples. Narumi bowed his head before he replied, "We can defeat the dragon, your Majesty."

"What do you mean? You think our army can fight it?" the queen questioned with doubt in her voice.

"Actually, no, your Highness," he stated, "but I believe that none of us has forgotten that there was a time when Antalantis was also threatened by a dragon. It was not long ago, while the previous king, King Ashura, was still ruling."

"Yes, I remember, but what a bout it?" Persona interrupted, annoyance was rising in his tone.

"Patient, Persona," Narumi replied with a smile before he continued, "There was a knight named Kaito Hyuuga. He was a young knight in the King's army, but before he joined the armed force, he traveled with his father through different lands. In their travel, they had encountered a dragon and successfully defeated it. In short, he was experienced in handling a dragon so the king trusted him to deal with it, and Kaito didn't fail him. Kaito Hyuuga had, once again, defeated another dragon."

"So you are suggesting that we ask him to help us kill this dragon?" King Izumi asked.

"Yes, your Highness," Narumi nodded.

"Well, looks like your plan might work," Persona mockingly said, "There is only one problem, do you know where this man, Kaito Hyuuga is now?"

The room was engulfed by silence. Reluctantly, Narumi answered, "He was exiled twenty years ago"

"Yes, that's right," Persona stated with triumphant, "He was exiled due to his betrayal to his own country and his king. Do you think that he will help us?"

"At least we should try," Narumi said, his voice has turned into an angry one.

"And where do you think he went?" Persona smirked.

"People last saw him near the Northern Woods, we should send someone there,"

"And when was that last time?" Persona asked.

Narumi was caught off guard. He hesitated a bit before saying, "I don't know, several years ago"

"So you are saying that your source is trustable?" Persona smirked as he was obviously winning the debate.

"I didn't have much time to investigate. If you allow me, your Majesty, I will send more people…" Narumi was interrupted when King Izumi raised his hand, telling him to stop.

"Enough you two," he said when he stood up, "I don't think we can look for Kaito Hyuuga and ask him to help us, Narumi, because he was and he still is a betrayer. There's no guarantee that he'll help us,"

"But there's no guarantee that he won't help us either, your Majesty" Narumi exclaimed.

"But still, he's a betrayer and he was exiled. There's no right for him to come back to Antalantis again."

"Uhm, otou-sama, what if we reinvestigate his crime? Maybe he was not a betrayer," Mikan suggested. There were so many things inside her head right now. Everybody else looked at her, but she only kept her gaze at her father, who sighed and sat back on his chair.

"There are much more important things for us to do than reinvestigating his crime at the moment, Mikan" he told his daughter then turned to the others, "If Kaito Hyuuga alone could defeat a dragon, I don't see why our soldiers couldn't. My decision is that we'll fight it before it destroys us"

"Your Highness, what about King Kuonji's demand?" Persona asked in disbelief.

"I won't hand Antalantis to him, and that's final," the king firmly said. "Yuka, Mikan, can you two leave us alone to discuss what we need to do next?" when King Izumi looked at his wife and his daughter, they could both see the tiredness and sadness in his eyes that made him look ten years older than he was. They obeyed him and walked outside. Once she had reached her room, Mikan kissed her mother's cheek before disappearing into her room.

"PRINCESS! Finally you are here!" before she could have a chance to know what was happening, Mikan found herself pinned to the wall by a certain green eyed girl.

"Permy, let go of Mikan or people will think you're lesbian," a cold voice stated, and Mikan felt relief that the girl, though reluctantly, let go of her and she could resumed breathing normally.

"Didn't you know how worried I was? Where have you been? When you didn't come back after the incident in the market, I thought that something happened to you," Sumire said quickly as she dragged Mikan to the coffee table in the middle of the room, where Hotaru was sitting and sipping her coffee.

"Relax, Permy, I just went to otou-sama's conference room to ask for information" Mikan said when both of them sat down next to Hotaru. Mikan looked at her best friend. Hotaru had her nonchalant expression on as usual but in her amethyst eyes were obvious tint of worry that she only reserved for Mikan. She smiled, "I'm fine, just a little frightened but I'm fine"

"So what did you hear?" Hotaru asked, her eyes were sparkling as when she sensed something that could bring her a lot of money. Mikan grabbed a cup on the table and while sipping the dark brown liquid inside, she told her friends about everything that happened

**********

"Well, what are we going to do?" Sumire asked after Mikan finished her story. Mikan and Hotaru looked at each other. They had been best friends ever since they were just little kids. Hotaru's parents were the king's loyal ministers, her brother was the most skilled Healer in the whole kingdom, and Hotaru herself was the most intelligent inventor Antalantis ever had. Furthermore, they were of noble line, so it was not strange when Hotaru, as a six years old girl, was allowed to enter the castle without checking identity. And there, she met princess Mikan, who was at times feeling lonely because her parents were too busy to play with her. Since then, the girls have been together for over eleven years. Some people may find it strange how a stoic, indifferent, cold and clever girl like Hotaru could be Mikan's best friend since the latter was cheerful, bubbly, dense and clumsy. Whatever the reason was, they were inseparable. They had a strong connection that without much words said, they could still understand each other really well. Hotaru knew what was on Mikan's mind at that very moment, and although she understood that it was the right thing to do, she couldn't help worrying.

"I'm going to look for Kaito Hyuuga" Mikan exclaimed, confirming what Hotaru was thinking she would say.

Sumire gasped, "What are you saying? Are you out of your mind?"

"I must do that, Permy. Remember those tales your obaa-san used to tell us? It takes more than just swords and shields to kill a dragon," Mikan calmly said, "It's not that I don't believe in otou-sama's decision, but I don't think we can get this over without much death and injuries. I need to help Antalantis as much as I can, that's what a princess needs to do, right?"

"But…" Sumire was about to said when Mikan cut her off, "I'm determined, Permy. And if he doesn't agree to help us, I'll try to ask him to teach me how to deal with a dragon then"

"We'll go with you," Hotaru stated. She looked at her best friend with determination in her eyes.

"No, Hotaru, I'm going alone. You two need two take care of things when I'm gone. Moreover, it's easier and faster," Mikan replied. Knowing how stubborn Hotaru could be, she added, "I promise I'll be okay, and I'll come back"

"But we are talking about the Northern Woods here. There are plenty of evil things there," Sumire said, her voice was shaking.

"I'll be fine. Are you doubting my swordmanship?" Mikan asked and smiled with her, but she found her voice tremble as well, "And to think that we haven't parted yet." The three girls burst out laughing, but soon enough, silence intruded the room.

"When are you leaving?" Hotaru finally asked with a sigh.

"Tonight."


End file.
